The Return
by ReaperTitan
Summary: Ash gets told to quit his dream. So he disappears to show that he doesn't quit. Soon he returns, and is determined to win a tournament and become a Champion. Rayshipping!
1. Disappearing

**Hi there, welcome to my first fanfiction. This is a betrayal story of sorts. Anyways, I don't own Pokemon. Enjoy!**

* * *

Rain falls on the man looking at the grave of his mother. But it doesn't annoy him or make him cold. He sits down in the mud, thinking about how far he has come, and what he's achieved in life. But he also regrets not being there for his mom when she needed him most.

* * *

"Lost again. Maybe I should try my luck at a casino since I'm unlucky in Pokemon battling..." Ash muttered as he held a knocked out Pikachu in his arms. He felt guilty, because Pikachu had given his all for Ash all these years and he never won a championship or league.

Ashs opponent, Tobias, came over to shake his hand. "Good battle Ash. Most people don't defeat two of my Pokemon. Anywho, thank you for the battle." Tobias could see the sadness on Ash's face, but didn't know what to say. Not wanting to be awkward, Tobias quietly walked off to the celebration party.

"Right...bye." Ash walked to the Pokemon center to heal his Pokemon. As he did, he thought about all he had been through. And why he couldn't win just one championship. _Maybe I'm not training my Pokemon right...or just not using the right Pokemon I should be using. What am I doing wrong?_

Nurse Joy was standing at the front desk when Ash walked in. "Welcome to the Pokemon Center! What can I do for you?" Nurse Joy asked.

"Please heal all my Pokemon, Nurse Joy." Ash handed Pikachu and the five Pokeballs over the counter to her. As he handed Pikachu over he saw him squint his eyes in pain. Ash felt like a completely evil person. _You tried your hardest for me, and I failed you. I won't let this happen again to you or the others, Pikachu_

"Okay! Your Pokemon will be ready for pickup in an hour." She turned and walked to a back room. Ash walked out of the Pokemon center to go on a walk to clear his head. And to avoid the looks from people he was getting.

A few minutes later, Ash found himself in the woods by a lake that turned into a river that eventually went into the ocean. Just over the river the sun was setting. It was a pretty place, and Ash couldn't help but be captivated by its peacefulness. What he didn't know was someone was following him.

A stick breaking broke the silence. _SNAP!_

Ash turned around in surprise "Who's there? Show yourself." A woman with blond hair and black pants and coat walked out of the trees. She had a slight blush on her face from embarrassment.

Sinnoh Champion Cythina.

"Hello Ash, it's been awhile. Sorry if I scared you, I lost sight of you and you were so far away." She walked over to where he was still standing in slight shock. His face looked tired and sad.

"Good to see you too. Not to sound rude, but why were you following me through the woods?"

"I wanted to talk to you about your battle with Tobias." _Oh. Why did it have to be that? Please, anything but that nightmare Cynthia._

Ash looked down, closing his eyes to try and stop the tears trying to fall. "What about it?" _Please don't tell me how crappy I did, please..._

"You did a good job. Your team, which didn't have a whole lot of experience in fighting, were able to hold out against two legendaries that have been made even more powerful by a trainer. Not everyone can do that, even with a team they've used for years." she replied in admiration. Why did he still look so sad? He should be proud of himself.

Upon hearing this from such a powerful trainer, Ash's mood lightened a little. But he still felt like he failed all of his friends and Pokemon. "Maybe, but I didn't think enough about this match." _That's a major understatement you idiot._

"How so?" She was genuinely curious. But she felt like she knew the answer. _He realizes now that he didn't think this through entirely. And that he failed his team..._

"I should have used Pokemon that I have had for years, instead of new and growing Pokemon. For example, my Charizard, who beat Articuno by the skin of his teeth, is the strongest in the Charific Valley." _Oh look Ash, there's another mistake. You never went back to see how Charizard was doing, Primeape was doing...how do they feel about you now?_

Ash had a Charizard that beat a legendary? "I never heard about that before, that's pretty good. You should have used him in your battle."

"Exactly. And that's where I messed up big time. Charizard might have been able to take out two legendaries before fainting."

The woods were slowly getting darker as the two talked. The birds stopped chirping, and the stars were starting to enter the night sky. Neither didn't feel like getting mauled by a wild Pokemon.

"We should get back. It isn't very safe out here, and I need to get my Pokemon." Ash looked at the sky for a few seconds, and started to walk back to the Pokemon Center. Cynthia hesitated for a moment, and followed him. They continued to talk, this time about some ruins near Mt. Coronet.

-20 Minutes later-

"Well, this is where we part ways. Good luck with your research Cynthia."

"Thank you Ash. What are you going to do now? Train some more?"

"I'm going to head home and take a short break and then I think I will go explore. I dn't want to take on a League for awhile. I've been thinking about going to Mt. Silver."

"Are you sure? From what little I've heard about it, Mt. Silver is extremely cold and the Pokemon there are extremely strong. Plus, isn't that where Moltres lives?" To her it seemed a little too extreme for someone like Ash, but he always kept surprising her.

"Yes, but I'm thinking of staying in the lower parts of the mountain. Just below the snow and ice. Moltres does live there, but it isn't always there. Not that I plan on messing with it."

Cynthia suddenly pulled a card out of her pocket and handed it to him. On it was a number, and her name. "In case you need any help or advice, plus I've always wanted to go to Mt. Silver. Take care, Ash." Cynthia, blushing slightly, turned and walked to one of the arenas where a party was being held.

"She actually did that?" Ash was still surprised. Suddenly he had a thought. _Did she just indirectly ask me out...nah, no way. I'm sure she has a guy._

"Pikapi!" Pikachu jumped into Ash's arms. "Hey buddy, glad to see your awake and okay." Ash could see he was tired. So Ash put Pikachu in his backpack where a bottle of ketchup was waiting, and placed his Pokeballs in his pockets.

"They'll need a few days of rest. They were exhausted!" Nurse Joy said.

"Don't I know it..." Ash muttered, the guilt returning in full force. He turned and walked outside.

"Have a good night!" she shouted. Ash put an arm up behind him and waved. _Now to Kanto. I can't wait to get in my bed at home._

* * *

-Pallet Town, Kanto-

"We're finally here Pikachu! Race you to the house!" Ash and Pikachu, laughing, ran as fast as possible to the house. Pikachu won by a few feet.

"Man I'm starving, hopefully mom has food cooking." Ash knocks on the door and waits. Suddenly a brunette woman opens the door and wraps Ash and Pikachu in a hug strong enough to rival an Aggron's.

"M-Mom I'm suffocating." "Pika!" Ash's mom releases the two and laughs as they flop around like fish out of water.

"Welcome home boys! I have food on the table. It's warm so eat qui-"she is interrupted by two blurs flying into the house. _Some things never change..._

-A few hours later-

A knocking breaks the silence of the house.

"I'll get it mom!" Ash runs downstairs to answer the door, and opens it to see Brock, Misty, Dawn, May, Max, Drew, Brock, and Paul at the door. "Hey guys! Come on in."

After pleasantries were exchanged, everyone sat down in the living room to talk. But it wasn't going to be a good talk. The group of friends were strangely quiet.

"So, what's up? I'm sorry you had to see me do such a crappy job against Tobias...I didn't think that through very much." Ash started to get worried when no one answered, but instead they looked at each other.

"Ash, you did a pretty good job against Tobias using your Sinnoh team but...you could have won if you put some more thought into it. But that's not the reason we visited. Ash..." Misty said. She knew this would anger him.

"Im starting to get worried...just say it Misty." Ash clenched his fists.

"We think you should move on from being a Pokemon trainer, and start working on your life. You've spent years trying to beat a League, but you fail each time...please Ash." May said in desperation.

"The hell...you're asking me to just throw away what I've been working for after all these years. I'll admit, I have screwed up some times. But that was because I cared more about my Pokemon than winning, and I didn't think things through. Have I told any of you to give up on your dreams?"

"No...but you don't know for sure if you will. And Ash, you have so many opportunities that you shouldn't throw away. How do you think your mom feels when you go off on a journey and come back having not won a league?"

At this point Delia came in from the kitchen, tears in her eyes. "Ash, what they are saying is true. I think you should work towards something you can achieve. Like Gary, he's quickly becoming a top Pokemon researcher. Why can't you do something like that?"

"I can't even...I'll be right back." Ash disappeared upstairs. He grabbed a backpack and his wallet, and threw on his socks and shoes. Then, he put a few days worth of outfits in his backpack, along with some energy bars and a ketchup bottle. He walked back downstairs, Pikachu on his shoulder after being woken up.

"Ash? Where are you going?" May asked, worried he was about to do something stupid. the others felt the same way. Ash always did spur of the moment things when he was emotional like this.

"I'm going for a walk...nothing exciting. Just to clear my head and think. Back in an hour or two." Ash went outside while everyone else sat in silence. The tension was thick but slowly eased when May talked about an upcoming contest. They knew Ash would be back, he always came back.

* * *

"I'm not going back Pikachu. No way I'm going to quit on my dream. But...I have my doubts." Ash thought it over, and decided to call Cynthia. He pulled the card with her number on it and dialed her number.

"Hello, Cynthia speaking." A female voice announced through the small speaker.

"It's Ash. Cynthia, I have a question. Could you answer it truthfully?"

"Sure. What's up?" Cynthia said uneasily.

"Do you think I could win a league or tournament if I worked hard enough and was smart?" Ash asked worriedly. If anyone had an opinion on his training he trusted, it was Cynthia's. Several seconds went by before she replied.

"Ash, you have potential unlike most trainers I see everyday. I think you could go as far as you wanted if you put your mind to it. Why do you ask?" She was concerned now, he could tell from her tone of voice.

"It's nothing. Thank you Cynthia. Talk to you later."

"No problem. Bye Ash." _The heck just happened? Oh well, that's typical Ash..._

"Bye." Ash hung up and walked to Proffesor Oak's lab. He knocked on the door and waited a few seconds. A gray haired man answered the door.

"Hi Ash! Welcome back, what can I do for you?" Oak could see the sadness in Ash's eyes and Pikachu's anger. Something had happened to the two.

"I would like to collect all of my Pokemon. Every single one of them." Ash knew it was a weird request, hopefully Oak wouldn't ask too many questions.

"Well..okay. Is something wrong Ash?" Oak brought the two inside and went to go get Ash's Pokemon. Pikachu ran around the lab, carefully not knocking anything over.

"Nothing big, Proffesor. I'm just going somewhere is all." Ash didn't want to reveal too much to anyone. He knew people would ask anyone he knew where he went to once he left. Mt. Silver was dangerous after all.

"Must be a pretty dangerous place if you need all of your Pokemon." Oak said conversationally. What kind of place was he going to? A war zone?

"Somewhat." Was all he got for a reply. _Okay, something's seriously wrong..._

A few minutes of silence passed, as Oak got his Pokemon and Ash continued thinking about his plan. It was going to be difficult, but he would do what it took to achieve it.

"Well here you go Ash! Thats the last one. Anything else?" Oak asked,

"Could I have some updates added to my Pokedex? I heard some new OS came out."

"Sure thing! I'll be right back." Oak went into a back room with Ash Pokedex and came back 5 minutes later.

"I added some new software and applications. You can get more detailed information on Pokemon like what they eat, the sounds they make, weaknesses, and it determines a Pokemon's gender for you!" Oak boasted. Gary had developed it after all.

"Wow...he really went all out on this. This is just what I need for where I am going." Ash got up and started walking towards the front door.

"Bye Ash! Stay safe, and call me if you need something." Oak went back to work, thinking of where Ash would need to go with all his Pokemon.

Ash walked down to Route 1 and stopped. He turned and look at Pallet as the sun set. It would be his last time seeing it for a long time. He let Charizard out of his Pokeball. After being crisped by a flamethrower, Ash explained what had happened to Charizard. Charizard was angry at them now.

"We'll prove them wrong Charizard. But for now, let's get going. We got a bit of a ways to go." Charizard knelt down to let Ash and Pikachu on, and they flew away to Mt. Silver.

It would be a long time before anyone saw them again.

* * *

 **Well? What do you think? Please review and stay tuned for more chapters!**


	2. A New Beginning

**Hello again! Thank you all for the favorites/reviews/follows. I really appreciate it. Some of you may notice I edited last chapter to make it a bit more detailed. In this chapter Ash arrives at the desolate Mt. Silver, and back in Pallet he gets reported as missing. Enjoy!**

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After flying for hours, the trio arrived at the infamous Mt. Silver. It towers above the surrounding landscape, with trees poking out on its rocky bottom. As the altitude increased the terrain became icy and there were few trees. To Ash, it looks lonely and lifeless.

"Well here we are guys, Mt. Silver." Ash and Pikachu jumped off of Charizard's back. They gaze at the mountain, transfixed by its beauty and roughness. Charizard, being exhausted, curled up to sleep. Ash pulled out a Pokeball and returned him. _Thank you so much buddy, now get a nice long rest._

"Pikachu." Pikachu went back into the warmth of Ash's backpack. It was kind of cold where they were. Ash decided to start searching for a warm place to sleep for the night. The base of the mountain was a short walk away. He knew he would need fire, since it was getting dark.

"Jeez, it's bigger than it looks in the postcards." Ash muttered. He found a fallen tree branch, and snapped it in half with his shoe. Then he summoned Infernape to light it on fire.

"Infernape!" Shouts the fire monkey as he emerges. He looks at Ash waiting to hear what he needs. That's when he notices it's cold. _This isn't the ranch..._

"Hey buddy, I need you to light this branch on fire. Could you do that folr me?" Ash asks hopefully.

"Fernape!" he leans in to the branch and shoots a small ember on it. It catches fire, and the flame starts to grow. Ash presses some dirt around the flame so that it doesn't burn the entire stick.

"Thanks Infernape. Return." Ash puts the Pokeball back on his pocket, and walks on. A few minutes later he arrives at the face of the mountain. He can't see a cave nearby, so he starts to navigate up the sharp rocks. It's completely dark by now, and the moon can be seen rising on the horizon. Pretty soon Ash sees a dark spot to the left of him, that looks like a cave opening.

"How about that? A cave. I hope there aren't any Pokemon in it." Ash has to shimmy on a ledge to get across to it. The crossing hurts his fingers, as he had to hold on tight to avoid falling off. Soon the cave is a few feet away. Ash begins to walk inside. The temperature is rapidly falling.

 _I can't smell anything that could be a Pokemon. But I've been wrong before...well, too late to stop. I need to get some rest and a fire going, or I'm going to get hypothermia. A fire should keep any roaming wild Pokemon away._

Ash doesn't find any Pokemon in the cave. It turns out to be L-shaped. He decides to make a fire in the far back of it, where the heat won't escape quickly. Breaking the stick he had into pieces, and making a small circle with stones, a fire is soon lighting up the cave. Pikachu curls up in Ash's arms, enjoying the warmth of his body heat and the fire.

* * *

-Pallet Town, 10 Minutes ago-

"It's been hours, where could he have gone?" May shouted. She knew Ash did stupid things pretty often, but this was taking it to a whole new level. It was the coldest winter on record, and Ash hadn't come back after 6 hours. Something was _very wrong._

 _"_ May, he could be hiding somewhere. We did piss him off after all." Brock replied. He was worried too, Ash had never done anything like this. He had stormed off when he was mad countless times before, but always come back calm and collected. _How much did we upset him? I know it's brutal, being told something like that but...this is serious. He could be freezing outside for all we know._

 _"_ Weshould go looking for him. He couldn't have gone too far away." Max suggested. Oh, how wrong he was...

"It's too cold to do that. We should alert the police, they have the manpower to do these kind of things quickly and efficiently." Gary argued.

"Enough! This arguing isn't getting us anywhere. He's my son, I'm going to call the police. The least they can do it put out a BOTL notification to patrols."

"BOTL?" Everyone asked. That sounded like a food to them.

"Oh, my apologies. BOTL stands for Be On The Lookout. It's an order sent to all units, active and standby, to keep an eye out for the person/Pokemon described in the order. If the subject is sighted, they phone it on and the situation gets dealt with...usually." This made everyone think for a moment.

"Anyways, I'm gong to do it. Although I don't think it will be of much use, since it's too cold for long-range foot patrols." Delia picked up a phone and made the call on speakerphone so everyone could hear.

"Pallet Town Police Department." A male voice announces.

"Hello, my name is Delia Ketchum. I would like to report a missing person." She replied.

"Okay Miss Ketchum, could you please provide me with the name and description of the missing person? And the time you or anyone else last saw them?"

"The person is my son Ash Ketchum. I last saw him wearing black pants, a blue and white jacket with a red shirt, with a black backpack and red hat on his head. His shoes were blue and black. He is often seen with a Pikachu on his shoulder."

"Okay, and the time he was last seen Ma'am?"

"About six hours ago, so at...7 P.M."

"Okay. We'll issue a BOTL to all units in the region, and when morning approaches a manhunt will begin for him. Did he say where he was going? A direction he could have gone? Where does he often go?"

Delia thought for a moment. "She's so calm about this." Misty whispered to Gary. He just nodded and continued to listen in silence.

"He often goes to the Professor Oak's lab when he comes home. He didn't say much when he left, just that he was going on a walk. He was angry at us."

"That will be enough, Miss Ketchum. We'll take it from here. Have hope, he may come back soon." The voice said sympathetically.

"Thank you." Delia hung up and sat down. She looked at everyone, a determination in her eyes. "You all can stay as long as you want, but for now we need to get some sleep. Staying up and tiring ourselves won't do us any good if we're gonna help look for him." She walked to a closet, and pulled out a bunch of pillows and blankets.

"Are you sure? I mean, we could stay at the Professor's." Gary asked. He didn't want to burden her.

"It's no problem Gary, it would take us longer to get moving if we were at two different places. For now, lets just rest." Delia pulled out the couches and arm chair.

"I'll let you decide sleeping arrangements, but feel free to sleep in any of the rooms. Goodnight everyone." She gave a small smile and disappeared into her room.

"I'm amazed she isn't panicking right now." Paul muttered. Everyone nodded, they hadn't expected Delia to be so tough about it. Like mother, like son.

With that over, everyone figured out where they wanted to sleep and curled up. It would be a long night for all of them. And who knows how tommorow would go. At the same time on Mt. Silver, Ash was falling asleep with Pikachu in his arms, the fire warming them both.

And that's when Ash chose the road less traveled. Little do he know it would merge with an unknown path. A path of justice, and sacrifice.

* * *

 **Well, I hope that went well. And that the ending paragraph didn't suck. I would like to point out in a few chapters I will do a major timeskip, because I don't like boring you guys. So for now, the search begins, and Ash tries to survive on the mountain. Farewell!**


	3. Getting Started

**Hey everyone. I'm sorry my chapters are short, it's just that typing this up without a laptop (Im using an iPad) has been difficult, so feel free to offer me a cookie and not give it because I'm very bad :(**

* * *

Pikachu was knocked back towards Ash by the explosion. He skidded and rolled until he stopped at Ash's feet. There were burns, scrapes, and cuts all over him. Pikachu closed his eyes, fainting. A referee walked over and checked to see if Pikachu was awake, and when he saw his closed eyes and limp arms, raised a green flag at the opposite side.

"Because Pikachu has fainted, and Ash's entire team is eliminated, Tobias wins the battle!" The referee announced. The crowd cheered and clapped, excited at having seen such a great battle. Ash on the other hand, could only stare in guilt at Pikachu's knocked out form. He fell to his knees.

Pikachu looked up at him with his eyes still closed, and asked Ash in plain human speak "Why did you let this happen to me?" Then everything went black, and Ash fell backwards down a seemingly bottomless hole.

* * *

Ash woke up gasping and covered in sweat. Pikachu was sitting by the fire looking at him bewildered. "So it was a dream." Ash muttered. _But it felt so real to me..._

 _"_ Pikachu!" The mouse shouted. He pointed at the remains of last night's fire. It was close to going out. Ash quickly put half of the remaining wood on it so that it would burn. The pair needed it, since it was just before dawn and the temperature hadn't started to rise. The fire began to rise.

"Well, we might as well get ready for the day. We have a LOT of work to do." Ash announced. He got up to stretch, and when that was done, he quickly changed and dried off the sweat. He slightly smelled, but until he had things working smoothly there was no need for a bath.

"Let's get everyone assembled outside." Ash walks outside the cave and puts one of his shirts on a rock by it so that they can find it later. Then they work their way down the rocks to the forest and open space below. Ash brings all of his Pokemon out of their Pokeballs and prepares to give a speech.

"You guys are probably wondering why we are here, and why we are all together. The reason for that is I was told to quit trying to achieve my dream of becoming a Pokemon Master and Champion. So I gathered all of you up, and went here. We are north-west of Pallet Town. Now, I am making you an offer: You can leave me, or you can stay to train. This will be nothing like the training we've ever done before. It will be brutal, it will be cold and hot, but you will experience growth like you never have in your life. I understand if you don't want to do this." Ash paused to think for a moment.

"Okay, if you want to stay don't move. If you want to leave me, go to the right and make a group. I'll let you talk amongst yourselves." As soon as he finished talking, his Pokemon got in a circle and were arguing like mad. Eventually some started to wal to the right, until everyone was silent and facing him. He was stunned.

"Okay then...so be it. To those of you leaving, I will miss you very much, and I completely respect your decision. The laughs and memories we had together will be cherished. As your Pokemon Trainer, I release you." Tears appeared in his eyes, but he knew it would happen if he hadn't done something about it.

"Good luck out there, and if you ever see me...don't hesitate to approach me." He sadly smiled. The leaving Pokemon took this as a sign to leave and began walking in different directions, some in groups, others alone. Ash now had a feeling some would go back to his friends and mother in Pallet Town. He turned towards those who remained.

"Thank you for staying with me Pikachu, Charizard, Sceptile, Infernape, Bayleef, Squirtle, Noctowl, Gible, Torterra, Staraptor, Buizel, Quilava, Totodile, Swellow, Primeape, and Larvitar. It means more than you could imagine towards me. Now gather around, we got a lot of work to do and not a lot of time." Ash then began telling everyone the plan.

"We need to choose, do we keep using the cave we have now or do we try and find another one? It's up to you." Ash let them think it over. Then Pikachu held up 2 fingers.

"Yes to the second option?" They all nodded.

"Okay, then here's what I'm going to do. I'm gonna put you all back in your Pokeballs and I'll start climbing and looking for another cave. If I find one, I let you all out to look at it to decide." They nodded again, and Ash returned everyone, except for Pikachu who climbed back into his backpack, and put the Pokeballs in his pockets. He rememberd to grab some tree branches for fire, and puts them in between his back and the backpack. Then he started walking to the cave to grab his shirt.

After that, he began walking around the mountain while slowly going up and up. By this point the sun is a few degrees above the horizon, which was good for Ash because it was starting to warm up. He really needed to get some supplies. That was his biggest mistake right now. Thankfully he had his own money to do just that.

"I've walked around long enough. I need to go up higher." Ash decided. With that settled, he began navigating up the fallen boulders and sparse trees. Soon he could see what looked like was a cave in the distance, and started approaching it. Then a Geodude came out. It looked around, as if smelling something. Then it retreated into it's cave.

"Forget that. Time to find another one." He kept climbing, only stopping to take a break for water and an energy bar. Soon the sun was just past the midday points and Ash saw another cave a couple dozen feet from him. It looked big, which was just what he needed. After crossing a small stream, he stood in front of it. Once again, he summoned his Pokemon.

"What do you think guys? Think it could work? Actually, let's wait until we've looked inside it and made sure it's clear." So they all went in, Charizard and Infernape using their flames to light the way. It took a few minutes to realize it was empty, and that it was Q shaped. _That's perfect! We could use the curve as rooms, and the center rock could be removed for a living area. And it's flat around it outside, so we could train right in front of it._

 _"_ Guys, I think this could be it. If we could remove stone in some areas we could make rooms for all of us, and a center room in the middle. What do you think?" The Pokemon cheered. With their new home found,Ash set to work getting everyone organized.

"Charizard, I need you to bring us wood from below in the forest. The rest of you, we need to break this stone to make room. Use Rock Smash, and be careful about it. Staraptor, can I use you to fly around and look for any signs of civilization?" Ash requested. After getting nods from everyone Ash quickly put on a long sleeve and hoodie and walked outside with Staraptor.

Ash placed a bright shirt on the ground so that they could find where their home was. Then he climbed on the kneeling bird, and they flew up in the air to search for man-made areas.

"Staraptor, I need you to use your vision to look for any buildings that we could visit." Ash commanded.

"Staraptor!" The bird began searching with its vision. A few minutes of silence passed as they flew around the mountain, and Ash was about to give up when Staraptor gave a chirp and flew at a building in the far distance. It was a mile or two away, and Ash could see it had a bright red roof. A Pokemon Center!

"Let's land in front of it." They landed, and Ash thanked the bird for his help and returned him so that he didn't freeze and could take a nap. He walked inside the Center.

"Welcome to the Pokemon Center! What can I do for you?" Joy asked.

"Hi Nurse Joy, I just arrived and was wondering what is located around here. Could you please tell me where they are?" Ash requested. Hopefully she wouldn't ask him anything about where he came from.

"Sure thing! Next to this is a PokeMart, which has been specially equipped for this area. It has survival gear, bulk Pokemon food, a clothing section, and the usual items they sell. Down the street is a store dedicated to selling heavy-duty survival gear, such as ice-picks and mountain boots, plus a load of winter clothing. Across from that you will find a small restraunt that is also a herbal store. And that's about it." She concluded.

"Lovely! Thank you so much, I was running low on Pokemon food." Ash finishe"d putting the notes in on his Pokedex, and turned to leave. He had some serious shopping to do.

"Oh, um sir! Do you need a room for the night?" Joy asked.

"Oh, I'm leaving in a little bit. Heading north, for some sightseeing. Thanks though!" Ash walked out. _That was close. Now, there should be a store if I go left and walk. Hard to see anything far away with how dense the trees are here. So I'll need two bags. One for my clothing and gear, the other for the food. This is gonna be a long walk..._

An hour later, Ash was walking towards the mountain carrying at least a hundred poinds of stuff. He had picked out a few sets of winter clothing, along with two heavy jackets and a waterproof reversible trenchcoat. It was a one of a kind, made from bulletproof Kevlar, and could be black or dark green, depending on which side was visible. Filling up the rest of the bags were rope, ice picks, campfire mounts, a roll up mattress, blankets, and so much more that Ash could barely remember, because he had purchased so much. Just to top that off, he had a portable battery unit and some lights.

After walking for an hour to and around the mountain, Ash arrived below where he thought his cave was. It was about one thousand feet above him, and thankfully not much of a climb. Just a slow, cautious walk. Soon he arrived in front of the cave, thanks to the bright shirt he saw. It had changed dramatically. There was now a door of some sort made out of wood. It was opened by moving the wood aside and walking in. Then you closed it by pulling the wood into place.

Inside, there were good-sized rooms for all the Pokemon to sleep in, and a large center area. Each Pokemon was in a room sleeping. Ash was proud of them. They had done their job better than he had asked them too.

He decided to get everything unpacked, and a fire going. Priority being the fire, because some of the Pokemon would freeze if there wasn't any heat. Thankfully the makeshift "door" would keep that heat in, but just enough to stay warm. Ash got to work.

* * *

In Pallet Town that morning, things were hectic as everyone rushed to get ready to go looking for Ash. Food, clothing, and supplies were packed, as everyone expected to be out in the cold for a bit. Plus, they could give some stuff to the officers who had to stay out all day and night. They went to the Professor's Lab to notify him of what had happened.

"What do you mean Ash is missing! He was here yesterday!" Oak shouted. How has he not been told Ash was missing?

"Wait, Gramps, Ash was here? What did he do? Did he say where he was going?" Gary questioned.

"Well, he came by and said he wanted all of his Pokemon. When I asked why he did, he just said he was going somewhere. From the way he said it, it sounded like a very dangerous place. I didn't ask too much, since he looked like he didn't want to talk." Oak grumped. The nerve of that boy! He hadn't told anyone where he was going, and now he was being told Ash had said he was going on a walk.

"We need to tell the police, this could save a lot of time." Misty pointed out. Everyone agreed.

"We have to go now Professor. The police are starting a search for Ash, and we are going to go help. He can't be too far, not in this cold." Delia hurriedly explained. They all said good-bye, and then left to go to the police station.

"Oh good, we made it here in time." May pointed out. She was right. There was a crowd of officers outside the station assigning patrol sectors for the surrounding area. When the group walked up to them, an officer asked who they were.

"I am Delia Ketchum, Ash Ketchum's mother and these are his friends. We are the ones who reported he was missing." The officer, satisfied with their explanation, let them pass.

"Adams and Johnson, I want you in sector twelve. The rest of you search around the town and ask if anyone has seen him or heard from him. Let's get moving people!" A chief shouted. He turned to leave but stopped when he saw Delia and Ash's friends.

"Who are you?" He questioned. An officer spoke up for them. "Sir, they are the missing persons' friends and family. They want to help search for him."

"Help search? Good, we need the help. Take a radio and stay together in one group. You can search where you want to, but check in every half hour. Okay?" He asked quickly.

"Yes sir."

"Great, now let's find our boy." The chief ran to catch up with the other officers heading to search around Route 1.

Everyone looked at each other. "Shall we get started?" Paul asked. After a moment, they started walking fast towards Route 1 as well, to look for signs of Ash.

They would keep searching until he was found.

* * *

 **Man that was NOT fun to write, but it needed to be done. I hope you aren't getting bored, because next chapter will have some good bits of action, I promise. Such as...Ash and his remaining team getting their training started, and the entire region searching for him. Oh, and the news finds out so pretty much the whole world knows!**

 **Anyways, goodbye. Thanks for the reviews, favorites, and follows.**


	4. Searching

**Hey everyone. I want to discuss a few things. First, I'm debating whether or not Ash becomes a vigilante assassin or just someone who throws the criminals at the League's front door, and doesn't kill.**

 **Second, in a few chapters I'm going to time skip. Just a heads up.**

 **Lastly, with school coming up in two weeks and my getting ready, I won't be able to update as often. Just a heads up. For now, enjoy!**

* * *

The search for Ash was rapidly growing. After he wasn't found anywhere near or in Pallet Town, the other cities police department's began searching in their area of jurisdiction, and the League was notified. The League issued a note to all Pokemon Centers about the situation and advised them to report any sighting of Ash. All this police activity had gotten the media's attention. Which led to reporters mercilessly questioning any officer in sight.

Delia and the group were returning to Pallet when a reported with a notepad and recorder approached them.

"Excuse me, but are you Delia Ketchum, mother of Ash Ketchum? She had been searching for her all day, and was slightly frustrated.

"Yes, I am. Do you know anything about where my son might be?" She asked hopefully.

"Unfortunately, I do not. But I was hoping you could give a quick interview?" She asked hopefully.

"Well, if you think it will help find him or make him come home, sure." She offered.

"Yes Ma'am, this will help tremendously." The reporter half lied. If anything, it could scare Ash off. But she didn't want to hurt Miss Ketchum. She turned on her recorder, and asked Delia some questions. Delia answered them truthfully, and the reporter scurried off to her headquarters to write the article. The gang headed back to the Ketchum residence for another long night.

"I can't believe he has the audacity to run off like that! We spent hours in the freezing cold looking for his sorry self." Misty snapped. She just wanted a nice hot shower, and some warm food.

"We really upset him..." Brock murmured. They all felt guilty when he said that, but they felt like it needed to be done anyways. Ash was wasting opportunities, he was only young for so long.

"Well, I think some hot dinner will raise our spirits. Who likes lasagna?" Delia asked while smiling. Everyone looked up hopefully. Her lasagna was LEGENDARY.

* * *

In Viridian City, the reporter was typing up her interview with Delia Ketchum. She knew it would make her look good to her bosses, so she didn't bat an eye when she switched a few of the details to make it more dramatic. Maybe she could get a relocation to somewhere nice...

An hour later it was ready, and she presented it to the station chief for approval. He read it twice, and then nodded. "Send it." He ordered.

* * *

In Sinnoh, Cynthia was visiting her grandmother in Celestic Town. They had come in after it had started to get dark to find the TV had been left on. They decided to watch a movie.

Cynthia typed in what she thought was the movies channel only to bring up the news. She was changing it when she heard the word "missing." She flipped back to the news to see a picture of Ash and the words 'MISSING IN KANTO' on it. Her grandma, walked over with a bucket of popcorn and looked to see what Cynthia was gaping at.

"Oh goodness, that's bad. Is he someone you know dear?" She asked in concern. She looked at Cynthia to see her quickly dialing a number to someone. She waited as it rang, but went pale as it disconnected instantly. A prerecorded voice said that the person was

"Is that his number?" Grandmother asked. She was really worried too. This "Ash" was either walking around in a no-signal zone, or his watch was disabled. Both were equally bad.

"Yes." Cynthia muttered. She was panicking, first Ash had an unusual conversation with her, and then he goes missing. Something didn't add up, and she was determined to find out. She went to her room, and started packing some clothes in a bag. Grandmother walked in and instantly knew what Cynthia was going to do.

"You like him don't you?" She asked, smiling. Cynthia looked at her with a slight blush.

"No! I mean- maybe. There's just...something different about him I've never seen in other people. Besides, they could use all the help they could get." Cynthia concluded. She hugged her grandmother and went outside, summoning her Garchomp. After explaining the situation, Garchomp and Cynthia flew for Canalave City.

* * *

Before nightfall Ash had gotten a basic setup going. He had placed small holders on the wall for the lights, and gotten Pikachu to charge the battery unit. The others had been allowed to go out into the forest- in pairs or as a large group- to bring back what they wanted for their room.

Ash decided to set up his makeshift bed in the main area. He knew they needed a water area, so Ash had Primeape rock smash a pool of sorts and filled it up with buckets he had bought from the store. Ash decided to use one of the campfire mounts as a large bowl for Pokemon food. As for him, he had a small outdoor cooking set. Nothing fancy.

As everyone went to their room to sleep- except for Pikachu, who slept next to Ash-Ash rolled out his mattress and the blankets. He rolled up a blanket to use as a makeshift pillow. He drifted off into what he hoped would be a peaceful sleep.

* * *

After flying all night, Cynthia and Garchomp reached Canalave City. Cynthia returned Garchomp, and walked off in search of a ticket stand for a ferry to Kanto. Luckily, she found one five minutes before the ferry left and made it on just in time with her bag. She decided to go sleep in her cabin, since everyone had realized she was on board. It would take two or three days to reach Kanto.

* * *

Delia woke up first, and got breakfast cooking before waking everyone else up. Soon they were all around the dining table, discussing their plan for searching for Ash.

"I don't think he is nearby guys." Gary announced. He had thought it over last night, and realized something.

"What do you mean?" Misty asked warily.

"I think he flew away on a Pokemon, or went by sea. We would have found him if he went by land. That got me thinking, what if we could trace his watch? I designed all my software to be tracked in case of a situation like this. So I'm going to go see if I can trace the signal to where he is." Gary stated. Everyone looked stunned. It was a good plan, and would save lots of precious time.

"What are we waiting for? Let's go now!" Max shouted. Everyone began to eat quickly, and after getting dressed ran to the Oak's lab. Gary unlocked the door and brought everyone inside. He told his grandpa about the idea, and they fired up the computer. A minute later, it had booted up.

"So what I've designed the tracking thing to do is send a signal once every hour. To save memory and for privacy reasons, it has to be activated here before it begins tracking. It's accurate to within a mile. So when I activate it, we just wait for an hour. Then it will emit a short pulse, and the computer will log it. Then we can view where it pulsed at, and that will give us his approximate location. It works even in no-signal areas." Gary explained.

Everyone was impressed. It was clear Gary had put a lot of work into designing it. What sucked was having to wait for another hour, but at the same time it gave them an opportunity to prepare to travel again. So they settled in to wait for the hour to come.

-An hour later.-

PING! A noise echoed throughout the lab, notifying everyone of the pulse. They rushed excitedly to the computer. Gary immediately went to work on collecting the information and pulled it up. The map showed the rough area of where Ash was on the region. In this case, a blue dot showed where Ash was. What had them reeling was Ash was on Mt. Silver. Mt. Silver.

"Are you serious right now? In all of the places, he runs to that freaking place? We can't go there!" Misty shouted while clenching her fists.

"How is he even surviving the cold?" May muttered.

"He must have found a cave or something." Max suggested.

"That seems to be the only way he could be there. It gets to the negatives at night there, so if there's anywhere we should be looking it's inside the mountain. It's warm in there, due to Moltres." Oak said.

"Moltres live there?" Brock asked in awe.

"Yes, though it isn't always there. It is often away, doing whatever it does normally. But if it was there, you would definitely know."

"So how are we going to get up there?" Paul asked, getting straight to the point. Everyone began to think.

Gary was first to get an idea. "I think we should tell the Mountain Rangers, since they patrol around there. They have a group that does this kind of thing. Plus, it would take a good bit of time for all of us to get there. We could try to find shelter there, but it would be extremely difficult. Plus, we could get lost."

"He's right. A number of people have gone missing inside the mountain, and some more people had to be rescued off the mountain. It's that brutal. Ash must have been very lucky to have found shelter to be there this long." Oak concluded.

"So in other words we can't do anything again?" Misty flatly asked.

"Well, not really. We can use this to track his movements, and notify the authorities of any changes in his location. They will have to do the tracking and rescuing." Oak sighed. This upset everyone, but it was true. They could easily get hurt out there.

"So our next step is to contact the Mountain Rangers to alert them about Ash. I know they have already gotten word he is missing, but they need to know he is on the mountain. Then they can hopefully start searching for him, assuming the weather isn't bad." Oak picked up a phone and dialed a number. The phone rang once, then someone on the other end picked it up.

"Kanto Mountain Rangers." A female said.

"Hello, this is Professor Oak calling. I am here with a family member and friends of Ash Ketchum. We have tracked him down and his location is somewhere on or near Mt. Silver. I'm sure you're aware he is missing."

"Okay, can you tell me what side of Mt. Silver?" Upon hearing this Oak checked the map again.

"He is on the North side."

"Okay, we'll take it from here. Thank you." Oak hung up after she finished speaking and looked at everyone.

"So now we wait." He sighed.

* * *

At the Mountain Rangers Headquarters, things were going into overdrive. Personnel were called in, gear was inspected and readied, and the weather was analyzed.

"We got a nasty snowstorm all around Mt. Silver right now, and it won't be gone until this afternoon." A man said. He was the chief of operations. Everyone just called Chief.

"So we have to wait until then to fly in?" One of the rescuers asked. They were in a briefing room.

"Sadly, yes. If this kid has been there all this time, he can get through another night. He has shelter after all. Otherwise that watch would be frozen and wouldn't be emitting a signal." Chief concluded.

"Just to clarify, when the storm breaks we make a dash to the mountain in the helicopter, try and find this kid, and get back before that massive blizzard arrives? What if we can't find him?" Someone asked.

"Well, then you guys return to base. Then we have to wait again. We will also send another team to search the inside of the mountain if he isn't found the first time. Okay, any questions?" No one raised a hand, so Chief dismissed everyone. He walked over to a weather tracker to look at the storm.

"This kid got lucky. A storm like that could cause an avalanche. If he gets stuck...Arceus help him." Chief muttered. He decided to get some sleep before the operation began.

* * *

-Several hours later. It is now morning for everyone-

Ash woke up feeling cold. For a second, he was worried the fire had gone out. Looking in panic, Ash was relieved to see it hadn't gone out. Which made him wonder why it was so freaking cold. He walked to the door while Pikachu slept and tried to open it. It wouldn't budge. "What the?"

 _SWISH! The door moved a few inches and snow came piling in. Ash jumped back and felt super cold._

"Jeez did we get a blizzard or something?" Ash muttered. He tried to push some of the snow away and was greeted with a howling wind and even more snow. Ash then decided closing the door was a great idea.

"Great. Guess I got to wait on this stupid thing to go away." Ash decided to just go to sleep. Suddenly a rumble shook the cave and mountain. Now everyone was awake and shouting. The rumbling continued down the mountain and went all the way to the ground below.

"Ah gee could this day get any more crappier!" Ash shouted in annoyance. Ash walked to the door. Where there had previously been a small hole to the world was now covered up with debris. Tree branches, pine needles, and snow was in the away. _Tree branches? Oh...that was an avalanche. Holy crap that was scary. How much snow is in the way?_

Ash tried to dig some of the snow away but it kept getting replaced by more snow. He decided to get Charizard to blow it away with his wings. He walked to the dragon's room to see him awake.

"Hey buddy, I need you to do me a favor. Can you come blow all this snow away? It's blocking our way out of here." Ash asked. The dragon got up and walked to the door to see a mess. He looked at Ash. After getting a nod, Charizard used his wings to blow the snow away. At first it didn't work, but eventually the snow was replaced with wind. Charizard just walked back to his room like he didn't care.

Ash on the other hand decided to check out the Avalanche. After getting dressed and putting on a hat, he walked outside. Shivering, he looked at how the avalanche had replaced rock with snow and debris. Ash walked back in, but as he did the wind kicked up and blew his hat away. It carried the hat down to the bottom of the mountain, and landed near the avalanche's path. _Forget it, I got more hats anyways._

As it sat in the snow, the hat got covered in more snow. Meanwhile, Ash had put the door back in place to keep everyone from freezing. He added some wood to the fire, and crawled back in bed, hugging Pikachu.

* * *

An hour later, a helicopter was rapidly approaching the north part of Mt. Silver. What the rescue team saw made their blood go cold. An avalanche had went all the way down the mountain, and there was a ton of debris. They set near the base of the mountain, and the if Arcanines began to sniff for any scent. One of the barked. The team rushed over, and began to dig where the dog was sniffing. One of them pulled it out of the snow, and looked at the others grimly.

It was a red and black hat.


	5. Lost and Found

"Base this is Bravo-One."

"We hear you loud and clear Bravo-One, go."

"Chief, we got some bad news. From the looks of it, an avalanche hit the mountain before we arrived. Scott found a red and black Pokemon hat that was frozen solid at the foot of the mountain. We think the person is in the debris."

"Roger that. Recommend you begin heading back to base within an hour. Storm is coming in faster than expected. Repeat, one-zero hour. Base out."

* * *

Captain King put down his radio and looked at the others. No one wanted to go back when this kid could be dying or dead nearby. But they also couldn't disobey orders. Doing so could get them fired, and in situations like these, potentially killed...but that's what their job was all about, right? Saving lives.

"Well, we have to leave soon. For now I guess we need to just do the best we can. Let's get to work." King commanded, and as soon as he finished saying that, everyone began splitting up to search for Ash.

* * *

After searching relentlessly the Rangers had to return to base. The weather hadn't gotten so bad that the helicopter could barely fly straight, and navigating was difficult for the pilot. The mood in the communications room was grim.

"Did you guys find anything?" Chief asked. Scott just held up a partially frozen hat. After hearing the story, Chief thought for a second.

"There's a chance he was outside when the avalanche hit, sir. But we looked all over and didn't find a thing. No body, no tracks, and no other pieces of clothing. I think he may have lost the hat when the wind kicked up. Just a thought sir." Scott stepped back. Chief looked at him, and then the hat.

"As soon as this mess clears up, go back there. But this time search up the mountain. He has to be in a cave." Chief handed the hat to a forensics tech, who took the hat to a lab for examination. "Dismissed."

* * *

A few hours later, the search team was climbing up the mountain looking for caves. Thankfully the avalanche hasn't covered the entire side of the mountain, and since the signal was coming from only one side, finding the kid should be easy. But nothing goes as planned. Soon Captain King spotted what looked like disturbed snow.

"Guys, King here. I'm seeing what looks like a spot in front of a cliff where the snow has been moved. Gonna drop down to see what caused it. Out" He radioed. After walking through some of the Avalanche debris he arrived in front of the cliff. There was an indent in a mound of snow. Pulling out his survival knife, King slowly approached it. Brushing some snow aside, he wasn't prepared for his hand to hit a non-rocky surface. Whatever it was, it was slightly warm.

After brushing more snow aside, King could see wood. But it wasn't a tree, it was what looked like a door of some sort. He tried to push it in, but it wouldn't budge. Trying to pull it to the side, he fell backwards into some snow. The metal carabiners on his backpack made a _clang!_ noise.

* * *

Ash had been awake and sitting by his fire when he heard a noise from the area his door was in. Curious, he got up to investigate, thinking it was one of his Pokemon. As he neared the door he could barely make out a noise on the other side. Suddenly the door cracked open and Ash backed up in fear. A super cold wind rushed in, sucking the warmth out of the cave. Charizard woke up, and sleepily trudged out of his room. Suddenly he could sense something was not right and looked at the now open door, and growled at whatever was on the other side, seeing as it was scaring Ash.

* * *

After a bit of cursing and moving more snow, King got the door part way open. Warm air spilled out all over him, and he instantly knew this was someone's hiding place. A cave wouldn't have a door and warm air for no reason. He continued to try and open the door, but stopped when he heard a growling noise. Whatever it was, it sounded _pissed._ King thought for a second, and kept on moving the door. He had come too far to quit now.

* * *

The door was now halfway open, and a figure in bright orange carrying a large backpack, with a knife in his hand, entered the cave. The person removed their snow goggles to look at Ash. Charizard continued to growl, and Ash could see he was ready to attack this now revealed man.

"Ash Ketchum?" The man asked. He sheathed his knife, and stood in place. Ash just barely nodded, still in shock and slight fear.

"I'm Captain King and I'm a Mountain Ranger, I was sent to find you. You've been reported missing. Are you injured?" The Ranger asked. He noticed Ash was shivering and turned to close the door. Then he gave Ash a blanket. Seeing the man wasn't being a threat, Charizard stopped growling but remained tense.

"I'm not injured. Well, not physically at least..." Ash muttered. Curious, the Ranger raised an eyebrow.

"One day my friends came by my house in Pallet Town. I thought they were there to hang out or something, but they asked me to stop chasing my dream of being a Pokemon Master and Champion. They told me I should get started with my other part of life, like getting a job and thinking about starting a family and such." King listened to Ash quietly.

"So, I told them I was going to take a walk after I had packed up some stuff to go away. I got all of my Pokemon from Professor Oak, and flew here since it was such a brutal place and I thought it was perfect for training." Ash concluded. He looked at King.

"Well Ash, that's some story. But you realize your Mom and friends are worried sick? The entire world knows about it, and people have been searching for you nonstop. Heck, we have been looking for you for hours on this blasted mountain. You need to come home, make amends." King sternly said. Ash's expression hardened when he said that.

"I won't go back. Not until I know I'm ready to win a Championship. I've come too far to quit now." Ash muttered angrily. "Don't you have a dream?"

King thought for a moment before answering. "I did, and I reached it. I became a Mountain Ranger, just like my dad. Took a lot of work, but I did it."

"So why can't I reach mine?" Ash argued while glaring at him. King couldn't answer that..

"The only way you'll drag me off this mountain is if I'm about to die, or if I'm going to come off willingly. Now please, leave and don't tell anyone I'm here. Wait, how the crap did you find me here?" Ash asked.

King knew he couldn't tell Ash that he had been tracked because of his watch, so he just shrugged. "Don't know, all I was told was where you were and to come get you. Now, you give me one reason I shouldn't tell anyone about this."

Ash answered without thinking. "Because I'm dead serious about this. And, I've been doing just fine up here. I can focus on training, and I'm able to supply myself. It's not like I'm gonna stay up here forever. No distractions, just me, my Pokemon, and the objective."

"Good enough. Good luck Ash, and please don't tell anyone about this. I like my job, and you want to stay hidden. I'll be rooting for you when the day comes." King walked outside where it was beginning to snow hard.

* * *

After King hid the door with some snow, and made it look natural, he told everyone he had found nothing, and that they needed to go. After calling for the helicopter, the Rangers sat and talked.

"So nobody found any trace of him?" Scott asked. Heads shook, nobody had found a thing. They thought that this guy was holed up somewhere inside the mountain. Finally the helicopter arrived, and they flew back to base for a debriefing.

* * *

Chief rubbed his temples in an attempt to soften the headache he had. After the team had gotten back, they had reported no signs of Ash, and Chief had gotten a stress headache. This was getting more and more difficult by the day. Soon some politician would be blaming them for not finding him, not that they ever tried themselves. Turning towards the cabinet, Chief looked for some aspirin.

* * *

Ash had been tense the past few hours, hoping the Ranger hadn't lied to him about keeping his location a secret. If the weather was clear in the morning they were going to start training. Ash was also going to start his training, it being calisthenics. Soon they would take a trip somewhere, and many more would follow.

How long they would stay hidden, Ash did not know. It would be hell, but they would pull through, just like they did in the old days.

* * *

Just outside of Pallet Town, a Pokemon was walking towards the Ketchim house. It had been walking for days, trying to get to the place it called home. It's feet hurt, and it was starving. Seeing the house a few streets away, the Pokemon pushed itself to keep moving.

* * *

Delia and the group were anxiously waiting for news at her house. They had been waiting for the Rangers to report any signs of Ash, and hopefully have Ash with them, but the tension was starting to show. Several of them had bags under their eyes, and everyone was irritable. They were just getting to sleep when a booming noise came from the front door. Everyone woke up instantly, some pulling out their Pokemon, thinking it was important news or a robber.

Brock slowly opened the door, and looked down in shock. In front of him was a tired looking, worn down Bulbasaur. Brock hastily picked it up and brought it inside. The Pokemon was burning up, and starving.

"Is that..."

"Oh my Arceus it's Ash's Bulbasaur."

"How did he get here?"

Brock looked at the others with worry in his eyes. "He is running a temperature and starving, he needs to go to the hospital NOW." He shouted. Quickly everyone threw on their shoes and socks, along with their jackets, then they ran to the Pokemon Center.

When they entered they saw a bored looking Nurse Joy, but she quickly jumped up when they approached the front counter.

"Welcome to the Pokem-oh goodness! What happened to that Bulbasaur?" She asked worriedly.

"He belongs to our friend Ash, and he's running a temperature, and he is starving." Brock handed Bulbasaur over to a Chansey, and it ran to the back room. Nurse Joy looked at them, and then ran into the back room too.

"All we can do now is wait guys. They'll take good care of him." Paul said. They walked to the sitting area and tried to grab some much needed sleep.

* * *

 **Well, sorry for not updating for nearly 2 weeks. School begins in a few days, and I have to move soon, so it's been chaotic. I also just found out a family member is extremely ill, so we will be flying out to her...**

 **Anyways, sorry for the inconvenience. I'll try to not let that happen again without warning.**


	6. What Now?

*cough*

Hi. So now that school is out, I can start writing again...and actually stick to it. However, I've completely lost the plot for this story and the motivation...to be honest I think it needs a rewrite. Therefore, this story will remain but depending on how many people still want it I can...

1: Leave it up and let people use it to make their own version

2: Scrap it, make a new and improved version. Same plot, just better writing that isn't as inconsistent.

3: Delete it and never think of it again.

Ciao. New story will be posted soon.


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